NEW ORLEANS – A former Deepwater Horizon settlement lawyer has paid back the secret referral fee he received as part of a purported scheme to influence claims on behalf of a local law firm.

New Orleans attorney Lionel “Tiger” Sutton III has acquiesced to a court order to repay the $35,700.23 in proceeds he received from a $357,000 claim that was later found to be based on false tax returns.

Thonn’s claim has been cited by BP and other critics of the settlement facility as an example of the ease with which the claims program can be defrauded. Thonn has pleaded guilty to using fake IRS forms to justify his $357,000 claim and awaits sentencing on two counts of wire fraud.

Freeh's report revealed that Andry Lerner at one time had at least 675 claims associated with the Deepwater Horizon incident. Barbier has forbidden Andry and Lerner from handling any more Deepwater cases and ordered the firm to pass all of its oil spill cases to other lawyers. While Barbier said Andry and Lerner are entitled to compensation for work they have already done on those cases, he has not approved a pay rate. Barbier also said any fees the law partners are due to collect will be held in escrow until all Deepwater claims handled by the firm have been resolved.

In addition to Sutton, the accounting firm that handled the Thonn claim, Coastal Claims Group LLC, which is partially owned by Andry’s sister, repaid the settlement fund $14,280.10 for its part in assisting in the preparation of the claim.